Just Digital Team

Evergreen Marketing Explained

Evergreen Marketing... the term alone sounds refreshing and promising, but does anyone even know what it actually means? We do!

If you've spent enough time researching marketing or marketing strategies, you've probably come across the terms "evergreen marketing" or "evergreen content". Chances are, you've probably been told that your business needs it…

But what exactly is it - and how do you go about identifying evergreen marketing opportunities? Moreover, why is evergreen content vital for SEO and content marketing?

Soooo many questions - and we have the answers!

We’re going to deep dive into evergreen marketing and learn what it means, why it’s important, and how you can apply it to your marketing strategy.

What is evergreen marketing?

Let's be real, marketing is no easy task. You need to be a well of never-ending ideas to push one campaign after the next, and mind you, marketing is a hit or miss type of job. Some of your ideas may work and some might not.

Makes you wish you could produce content that requires little to no maintenance and could endure the test of time, doesn't it?

This is where Evergreen Marketing steps in.

It’s a sustainable marketing approach. It may seem corny, but think of an evergreen tree when you hear the term "evergreen marketing." Throughout the year, it remains green and fresh.

Evergreen marketing is the creation of simple marketing ideas, strategies, or concepts that can last for hours, days, or even years, bringing you new sales or prospects regularly!

That is evergreen marketing at its most foundational sense. It's an idea that will outlast this week's trends, next week's headlines, and even the popular search keywords of the following several months. Evergreen marketing, on the other hand, has a long shelf life.

Let me give you an example to make it easier to understand:

Say you're the owner of a cleaning supplies company and want to develop a piece of content that goes beyond seasonal trends or pop culture.

"Fundamental cleaning supplies every household needs” might be an evergreen content topic for you. This is a topic that will not become obsolete in a few months, regardless of monthly organic traffic patterns. Most certainly, homeowners will continue to raise this issue as long as dust and filth remain.

Benefits

What are the advantages of having an evergreen tree? It is there throughout the year! An evergreen marketing campaign is the same way. Without frequent tweaking, evergreen campaigns will continue to have a long-term impact on your business. This concept is crucial for small business owners who are trying to sell their local or online business while also managing operations, financing, shipping, and customer support.

Let's return to the cleaning supplies example:

You decide to go with the topic of fundamental cleaning supplies every household needs. You create a detailed list of the top 10 cleaning supplies (without the latest brands, just the item itself), along with photos and videos demonstrating how to use it and how beneficial it is to a home, and publish it on your website. The post takes off in the first month. The next month, the post receives even more visitors. Traffic is expected to increase in the next months and years.

You've written a timeless article. It applies to all searches, regardless of the time of day, month, or year. This post will most likely be one of your site's most popular pages, bringing in a lot of traffic (and potentially a lot of new clients!) each month.

Concentrate on the evergreen 20% of your marketing that lasts – build and improve it so that it continues to grow.

That is one of the advantages of evergreen marketing. Whether it's increased traffic, higher conversion rates, or more customers walking through your door, an evergreen marketing plan continues to benefit your business month after month. SEO is an example of evergreen marketing that has evident benefits and grows over time.

Picture this scenario: You are launching a new line of Sneakers inspired by rock legends.

There can be more than one way you decide to market your products.

You can create temporary hype by creating a campaign and promoting an event for each sneaker you create (which is quite expensive if you ask me), or you can create one campaign to promote all sneakers that can cover all the events you promote for the years to come (sounds more efficient and sustainable right?)

In the second situation, all you had to do was pick an evergreen marketing strategy that would save you time and money for the next few years. You decided to target a large audience with a single campaign. But remember, evergreen marketing won't apply to all situations. There are still times when it's better to rely on trends.

So to answer this question, yes, evergreen marketing is a practical approach. One that gets you more sales but saves you time, money, resources and extra work

What are some Evergreen Marketing concepts?

Target audience

Your audience is an evergreen asset. Why? Because everything you do from this point onward will have to cater to your target audience. Your content, branding, products, and other marketing materials will all have to target your audience. You don't switch from one audience to another while keeping your product the same!

Great branding

Branding should be all-encompassing when it comes to your business. A strong brand sticks to customers' minds and can even be the reason you gain loyal customers. Once a person jives and supports your brand, they can keep supporting you for years to come. Now, do you see how that connects to Evergreen Marketing? Good branding will stick with people for decades. Your logo, brand name, color palette, product names, and tone of voice can all contribute to the success or failure of your company, so you best be strategic about it.

Keywords

Now that you're aware of how branding can impact your business, it's time for you to understand how important choosing the right keywords are. This is, in my opinion, the most important! Don't believe the hype that SEO is dead or that the newest social media fad will put Google out of business. Please keep in mind that, at the end of the day, the internet is a large database that uses words to index sites and assets. Perhaps something else will emerge in the future, but for the time being, understanding the keywords consumers use to search for your product or service is still really beneficial.

It was common practice a decade ago to try to rank for hundreds, if not thousands, of unique keywords. There was a LOT less competition back then, which made sense. Today, there are a million social media sites, videos, websites, and blog sites all vying for your prospects' attention.

Learn more about which keywords your business can benefit from, then leverage that for years to come.

Products

Good products will keep customers coming back for more. This makes it super important to do product research and to ensure that your products are of top quality. When you decide on a product to sell, stick with it. Don't immediately venture out to sell other things because that will confuse people. Let's say you sell hair dyes then you suddenly announce you will start selling shoes. It's too random and might not fit well with the brand.

Values

When creating a business model or marketing plan, it's crucial to choose a few core values to adhere to. Then you remain with them through good times and bad. These values create your identity; if your identity is always changing, you have little chance of thriving or being recognized.

That implies that if *accountability* is the value your company adheres to, you'll have to the value at the forefront no matter what!

You can't just modify the values and policies on the fly for anyone, even if it’s because of a high-performing employee or a higher-up. From the beginning to the end, your values are there for you, which makes your values evergreen.

Website

One of the permanent identities that you have to build is your website. You shouldn't make big modifications to your website unless something is amiss or you're planning a rebranding. Your website is one of your long-term investments, making it evergreen.

Copy

Your copy is what you use to promote yourself. It raises your brand recognition and helps you achieve your traffic, sales, and other conversion goals. It is, in a nutshell, your sales pitch. Some copy, such as web copy, doesn't need to be updated as frequently.

Content

Content is mostly the educational, inspiring, or informative material that you employ as a marketing strategy.

Are you familiar with the term "evergreen content"? If you work in the content industry, there's a good chance you've come across the word.

After you've created evergreen content, it will continue to be in demand for a long time. Yes, you should make tweaks and updates to keep it current, but creating material from scratch does not necessitate a lot of effort.

Evergreen content is one of the most important aspects of evergreen marketing since it allows you to continue generating results for a long time. Examples of this can be blog posts, email marketing, and case studies.

To find evergreen opportunities, look at your direct competitors. You can see where their search traffic is coming from by using tools like Ahrefs. If a few articles or pages receive a lot of traffic, it shows that people are looking for this information. The age of the page will inform you if it is evergreen or not. It's still relevant if it's five or six years old and still receiving hits. So why should you let your competition get all of the attention?

Just because their page's subject is relevant doesn't guarantee the content is up to date. This is the sort of content you want to produce in the end.

The best content is that which people care about now and in the future. While generating news-related material might increase traffic, it will most likely fade away quickly. Instead, you should concentrate on topics that will have a long-term impact.

If you don't want to pay for tools to find opportunities, Google Search Console, if it's linked to Google Analytics, is also a fantastic option. Examine which keywords are ranking and which are reachable if you optimize for them.

Rather than creating new material for these keywords, which may be necessary, simply update or replace bits that are old or poorly written. This is a type of evergreen content maintenance that we recommend executing at least once a year for all of your pages and posts.

Evergreen marketing strategies

Rely on reviews and testimonials

Customer testimonials are among the most persuasive pieces of content you have at your disposal. In fact, in 2011 Google discovered that before purchasing a product, people examined an average of 10.4 sources (including the opinions of friends and relatives.)

Studies also show that adding testimonials to the checkout page raised conversion rates by as much as 64%.

You can't afford to waste opportunities like that, same goes for your content marketing strategy.

Create multiple ads using reviews and testimonials from your customers as a simple way to start your first evergreen campaign.

This will help individuals to successfully articulate what makes your product/service exceptional directly from the buyers' point of view.

Make your features beneficial

It's no secret that today's consumers are more knowledgeable when it comes to researching features and costs before purchasing a product or service. This percentage rises considerably for online purchases, with 78% of customers spending more time researching than they would at a shop.

While features might be uninteresting in and of itself, tying your product/distinctive service's characteristics to the advantages of those features will help your buyer realize why your brand is better than the competition.

Focus less on the technical specifications when writing copy for your own company and more on how it will tie in with your consumers' ultimate goal - addressing their problem with your service or product.

Show off your accreditations and awards

Everyone enjoys receiving recognition for a job well done. Not only that, but we want to brag about our achievements and accolades to the rest of the world. Sharing your accomplishments and successes with your consumers may also be a great way to build another form of evergreen marketing plan on the business side.

If your business has just received an industry award or another accolade for outstanding service, be sure to mention it in your Facebook ads as well. If you can connect this along with testimonials AND features/benefits, you'll get bonus points!

Share your knowledge with the world

If you go to YouTube right now, there's a good chance you'll be able to find a video instruction for almost everything. There are years worth of how-to videos available for any topic you can think of. We've all seen the hype surrounding it on YouTube, whether that be makeup tutorials, how to pack, and even how to cut your own hair, but the reality behind it is something we shouldn't overlook.

Another important aspect of evergreen marketing comes into play here.

Instead of continually pushing sales or one-sided transactions that 'talk at' your clients, you may want to attempt a completely opposite approach: offering free help with their problems by providing step-by-step instruction. This will not only give your online persona a feeling of worth and value, but it will also demonstrate that you care about things other than how much money you can earn from your consumers.

With this strategy, you'll have plenty of content for any future ads you want to make. Along with a ton of valuable content to keep your followers interested and satisfied in the meantime.

Now that you've gained a greater understanding of evergreen marketing, there are a few more points to discuss. Content and marketing that is evergreen are not:

• Your results
• Reports with the potential to change
• Current-events-related posts
• Posts with a seasonal theme

Evergreen material usually follows one of the following patterns:

• "How to" posts
• Lists
• Tips
• Product reviews for products that don't constantly change
• Videos

It doesn't imply you're automatically generating evergreen content just because you skip publishing seasonal pieces in favor of writing a relevant product review. These structural types are intended to help you get started. At the end of the day, if your piece isn't well-written or optimized, it's unlikely to be noticed. Always keep in mind that having content on your site isn't enough to attract visitors; providing valuable content is.

Keep your audience in mind

Keep in mind that the content you write is tailored to the audience for whom you're writing. You should also avoid using insider jargon wherever possible. If you're writing for beginners, it's reasonable to assume that too technical jargon will put them off.

Avoid broad topics and frills in your writing. For example, an article about a wide topic is likely to be much lengthier than one about a specific topic. In fact, Time magazine research shows that 55% of readers spend less than 15 seconds on a page. This implies you have a very short window of opportunity to persuade your reader. Don't throw them away because you're writing junk. Finally, broad subjects and their related keywords are dominated by big businesses and have the most number of competitors. So, find your expertise and use long-tail keywords to your advantage.

Go evergreen now!

It's tough and time-consuming to come up with new marketing material, especially when you're expected to do it again and over again. So, what's the big deal?

With Evergreen Marketing, you can give yourself some breathing room and distance.

Evergreen marketing can survive the test of time and provide you with the break you need to replenish your creative juices. Whether it's a tutorial, testimonial, or even a summary of your platform's capabilities.

We can teach you how to create content that is evergreen. Get in touch and we'll chat you through how you can have evergreen marketing initiatives as well.

Enjoyed this post? Click here to find more educational content on all things marketing.

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by Just Digital Team

Holiday Marketing Tips To Smash Your Holiday Marketing Campaigns

Now we’ve given a lot of information in the last blog post, but there’s more we want to give away.. (*ehem holiday marketing tips *ehem)

In this post we’re going to be focusing on different tips and ideas you can use to vamp your holiday marketing campaigns to the next level.

We’re keeping it festive, so without further ado, here are 12 tips and ideas you can use to smash your holiday marketing campaigns this year.

Holiday marketing tips: Create Google Ads campaigns that are specific to the season

Google Ads is a wonderful place to get seasonal, whether you're in retail, B2B, finance, or insurance. So, how does one go about doing this? Well, you start by creating a marketing campaign targeting holiday shoppers!

If you sell clothing you can use keywords like "gifts for your wife" or "Christmas sweaters." This helps you target prospects actively searching for these kinds of holiday gifts.

Another thing you can do is to give out incentives on your ad or landing page. Maybe you could offer free delivery if customers spend more than $50 on your products, or a coupon. Let's assume you provide complimentary gift wrapping. Maybe you could provide a $20 discount if the present is ordered by a particular date?

Make sure your landing pages reflect the festive spirit by emphasizing these perks.

What if you're not in B2C? Don't worry! There are still opportunities to be innovative with your Google Ads ads during the holidays. As the Holiday season begins, people start searching for ways to save money, so use Google Ads to offer some unique seasonal offers. Use ad extensions to fill more space in the search results, increase the likelihood of site visits, and showcase the special things your brand does for the holiday season.

Here are some simple Google Ads holiday marketing tips to keep in mind:

• Make use of seasonal ad copy. Words and phrases like "holiday" and "gifts" should be included.
• Use clichés sparingly!
• Ad extensions are your best friends — take up more SERP real estate during this competitive period.
• Special discounts and seasonal specials should be highlighted.
• Use text like "10% discount if you order before December 15!" to create a feeling of urgency.
• Stay relevant— do some keyword research around the holidays.
• Set up ad scheduling to bid at the moments when your customers are looking for products.

Remember, everyone is looking for a great bargain during the holiday season. So combining this with a sense of urgency in your ad copy is a terrific approach to appeal to busy holiday buyers.

Holiday marketing tips: Relish the spirit of holiday shopping campaigns

If you offer physical products and haven't tried Google Shopping yet, now is the time! These are the ideal gifts for your busy online Holiday customers because they're extremely convenient and can result in nearly instantaneous transactions.

Of course, sticking out in a visual way from your competitors can be a problem, but as long as your photos are appealing and your campaign is set up correctly your products can convert customers over the Holiday season.

Holiday marketing tips: Be social, merry, and bright in your Instagram ads

Instagram is the ideal platform for showcasing your holiday marketing campaign. Why not break through the noise with a fun holiday ad? Users are already uploading family photos and snaps of their decorations, so why not break through the noise with a fun Festive ad? While uploading naturally to your account is fine, it's worth investing some money in your finest Holiday photos to really stand out.

Get creative and joyful and bring in those Instagram hearts, whether it's your employees wearing ugly Weasley christmas sweaters or your dog wearing a halloween costume.

Holiday marketing tips: Remarketing is in season

Have you ever experienced this? You were about to buy something, but didn't, and then you saw it again and took it as a sign to go ahead and buy it?

It’s a tale as old as time, and you might even call it fate. Unfortunately, that wasn't fate at all, it was remarketing! When you use remarketing, you place a cookie on your audience's computer to unconsciously entice them to complete their transaction.

You can use remarketing to remind potential buyers that they abandoned their shopping cart or your website/landing page.

Think of the holiday season as the season of remarketing. Why? Because people are busy and have to make decisions quickly. So some of these busy customers must've accidentally left your website or abandoned their cart and just need a gentle reminder.

Holiday marketing tips: Make your display ads as festive as your holiday decorations

Using festive imagery on your display ads can definitely help your business and your leads interact in a positive way. That’s why it’s important to design your display ads in a way that’s relevant to the season and your audience. You can make it as spooky as possible for Halloween, or as heart wrenchingly sweet for Christmas. You have the freedom to be as creative as you want.

Holiday marketing tips: Exercise your giving bone

When it comes to Instagram, holding a festive holiday giveaway is a terrific way to make the most of the platform. To get more eyeballs on your business, I'd propose executing a social campaign across all of the major networks it uses like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, etc.

And who doesn't appreciate getting something for free, especially around the holidays. Get into the season of giving by offering a significant discount, a free add-on with an order, or just something entirely free. Generally, inviting followers to comment, share, like, and participate in your offer is a fantastic way to increase engagement.

Holiday marketing tips: Drop them holiday emails

You're making a major misstep if you don't include the holidays in your email marketing efforts. Especially since the holidays evoke strong memories in your customers' thoughts. Plus, engaging them with amusing seasonal emails is a terrific approach to keep them engaged.

Pay attention to the subject lines of your emails, it's the first thing that can catch your subscribers' attention and get them to open your emails.

Holiday marketing tips: Segment your audience like how santa segments the naughty from the nice

Business owners, like you, who have marketed in the past have mountains of user data at their disposal. Now that's something you should use to your advantage in all campaigns.

There's no better time than the holidays to be creative with your segmentation messaging. You can even use personalization to interact with customers on a deeper level. After all, it's a tried and true strategy.

If you have a sizable group of parents who are interested in your products or services, develop content that demonstrates how your company understands how difficult the holidays can be when you have a full house of children. Use copy that is relevant to the interests of a segment of leads with identical hobbies.

It's a good idea to start with the data you've gathered from platforms like Facebook, Google Analytics, and Google Ads. Use these platforms' lookalike audiences to target a fresh group of leads who are similar to a high-converting audience.

Holiday marketing tips: Leverage on emotions

I don't know about you, but whenever I think of the holidays I think of the warm fuzzy feeling of spending time with family. Well.. that and pumpkin spice lattes. While not everyone enjoys the holidays, majority of individuals have an emotional attachment to them. And since we all know that emotions motivate people to take action, now is the perfect moment to leverage on emotions for your campaigns.

You don't have to make everyone in your audience cry rivers for your campaign to be emotional; in fact, embracing humor in your messaging can go a long way during the holiday season.

Holiday marketing tips: Use vide-ohohos

Video is the most effective way to express your holiday message. Be as creative as possible and have fun with video to spread the holiday cheer throughout your marketing campaigns. Whether it's a festive invite video sent via email, a video added to your customer page to wish all of your customers holiday cheer, or a wacky video of your team wishing everyone a Merry Christmas on your socials.

Holiday marketing tips: Get on Santa’s nice list

This Christmas season, spread joy and cheer by executing a kind deed. Everlane, one of our favorite sustainable brands, started a Black Friday Fund last year. The company employed email marketing to notify customers that all proceeds from Black Friday sales would go toward improving working conditions in their Chinese factories. They also revealed the sales target they hoped to hit for the season. Many consumers responded positively to the non-pushy, straightforward message.

Consider how you can add kindness to your campaign. If you support a non-profit organization or have a unique cause that you want to promote, you can integrate it in your campaign to give your company a favorable image.

Holiday marketing tips: Be your loyal customers’ secret santa

Lastly, but certainly not least, remember to market to your current customers.

Give them gift cards or letters for their purchase, send a personalized email to each and everyone of them. Or give them each a cute gift for their purchase.

Small gestures of customized compassion toward your consumers may have a big impact and build the connection, converting a satisfied client into a brand advocate.

Start your holiday marketing campaign with just digital

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to ensure that your customers have a flawless buying experience. Especially in the digital age. With so many businesses competing for your customers' attention, it's crucial to stand out. Just Digital can help you do just that!

Our team of experts can help you create and execute effective holiday marketing campaigns to help you reach your goals.

Ready to grow your business? Call us today and let’s work together!

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by Just Digital Team

Holiday Marketing Tips, Ideas, Campaigns For The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Legend says the moment Halloween passes you start to hear tinkling of bells from marketers, all over the world, preparing for the much awaited launch of their holiday marketing campaigns.

Holiday marketing campaigns appear out of nowhere, with several companies scrambling to capitalize on a spending frenzy. Holiday emails, social media posts, and ads everywhere, it's definitely the most wonderful time of the year!

It might seem like holiday marketing is cheesy and out of date, but you can't deny how there are some brands who do it very, verrrryyy well.

These brands are the cream of the crop. They’re clever enough to know how in the midst of all the holiday marketing noise and chaos, to elicit feelings and encourage sharing. Sometimes even reuniting people with loved ones or collaborating with a nonprofit organization.

At Just Digital, our goal has always been to help your business grow and be the best version it can be. That’s why, as our holiday gift to you, we’re giving away some of the best holiday marketing tips and strategies.

What is holiday marketing?

Holiday marketing is the production of campaigns centered on certain holidays and distributed through different channels. The campaigns usually come out around the end of the year and Christmas seasons. It usually entails advertising specific seasonal offers in order to boost income during the event.

As described in the definition above, the key to holiday marketing is to create campaigns aimed at capitalizing on customers wanting to make seasonal purchases

Holiday marketing has the potential to boost sales for a variety of reasons:

• Demand and purchase intent are higher than usual: More clients are actively searching to buy throughout the holiday season, making your work as a marketer easier.
• Holiday marketing campaigns are time limited: Holidays are focused on a certain time period, generating a sense of urgency that encourages people to purchase.
• The joy of the holidays is contagious: Using emotion-driven holiday marketing initiatives to capitalize on your consumers' joyful mood is a great sales approach.

But with the spotlight on seasonal sales, it's easy to overlook the fact that this isn't the sole advantage of holiday marketing. There are other opportunities for your business over the holidays, some of which include:

• Gaining new customers: In addition to generating sales, holiday marketing can improve brand awareness and attract consumers to your business who might not be so interested in your business outside of the holiday spirit.
• Building customer relationships: The end-of-year holiday season is perfect for relationship marketing. With the holiday spirit in tow, you can thank your loyal clients for their support over the last year by giving them a free gift or an exclusive discount.
• Making your brand more relatable, more human: By spreading holiday happiness to your clients, you can make your marketing feel more personal, which helps to establish the trust that is necessary for retaining loyal customers.

What makes a great holiday marketing campaign?

Creating an effective holiday marketing campaign in the midst of a pandemic might seem extremely difficult. But our advice, stick with what you know (the basics), and try not to overwhelm yourself:

Look at successful holiday marketing campaigns from the past

There's still so much you can learn from the past…

Go back to your previous holiday marketing campaigns then take a look at the data you have. This can help you understand which holiday campaign strategies worked for you and which ones didn’t. Once you have your data you can try to emulate these strategies but with a fresh and modern twist.

Remember, there’s also a lot to learn from the bad. Take a look at your campaign again and check where you could use some improvements. Analyzing these can help you avoid making similar mistakes.

You’re not confined to only looking at your previous holiday campaigns, you can also take a look at how other brands created their campaigns.

Aside from your performance stats, try to check your customer data.Has your customer base changed significantly in the last year? What are the most important demographics to consider? What are their priorities? Understanding the important characteristics of your target customer can help you in developing a holiday message that resonates with them.

Determine which holiday marketing strategies are appropriate for your target market.

No two holiday marketing campaigns are the same. Don't just copy your competitors' strategies. Knowing your target group is crucial to a successful holiday marketing campaign. How else can you create a magical, emotionally charged message?

Create automated scheduled campaigns

The holiday season is all about working smarter — not harder. Look for content syndication solutions that can save you time and money while also giving your clients a more consistent experience.

Why is holiday marketing important?

Holiday marketing is important for many reasons: Starbucks brings back pumpkin spiced lattes, everyone’s frustrated about which gifts to give, and well, they benefit businesses a whole lot!

Other reasons can be:

Shopping trips have become a tradition

During ancient holidays, people would build fires, sing songs and dance, and sacrifice animals. Because us modern people are too busy for that, and because we're all slaves to capitalism, we naturally substitute it with shopping trips. Though it may seem humorous, holiday marketing is a huge cultural phenomena.

Customers expect more as marketing standards are heightened

Customers have become used to heightened brand rivalry in a variety of fields, including search results, email inbox, and social media. Holiday marketing has taught individuals that they are entitled to more, and they now expect to be treated with an outstanding personalized buying experience throughout the holidays. It also raises the bar for brand excellence, causing them to strive for improvement.

Customers and brands gain from each other

Holiday marketing rewards businesses' efforts with big income and better reputation while also providing excellent discounts and presents to customers.

The ability of the company to expand and adapt is put to the test

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday frenzy push businesses to the extreme. Participating in these holidays is unavoidable, and the holidays will only test brands to see if they can handle the volume of seasonal marketing. It also reveals whether or not particular businesses are adaptable and flexible enough to sort things out.

Encourages you to think beyond the box

Getting people's attention during a busy Holiday season is a difficult undertaking. To win over savvy customers, marketers should push their creativity to its limits and create emotional, relevant content.

Holiday marketing can be a huge pain for marketers if they don't know what they're doing.

What to expect this holiday season

Now it’s time we soothe some of your expectations for this holiday season.

A survey by Google and Boston Consulting Group conducted last June 2021 reveals that this year, online shopping will have a significant part in consumers' buying decisions this year. All thanks to Ms. Rona.. 🦠👁👄👁🦠

Due to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, there was a significant shift toward e-commerce. In 2021, however, more than 80% of consumers will seek in-person purchasing experiences.

With this information, brands must develop marketing efforts that cater to multichannel shoppers, using both offline and online touchpoints.

In terms of social media, Sprout Social predicts that stores of all sizes will receive roughly 18% more messages each month.

To prepare, brands should create a communication strategies online like:

• Adding FAQs
• Create a process for how social media managers can respond to complaints or concerns

Holiday dates to look out for

Choosing which events to focus on is one of the first stages in developing an effective holiday marketing plan. Some are self-evident, such as Black Friday and Christmas, but don't stop there. Other holidays that you may not have considered, depending on your business, could be important.

Here are some important dates during the holiday season of 2021:

October 31, 2021- Halloween

Start your end-of-year holiday marketing with an unique, spoooookyyy, eye-catching Halloween campaign.

November 25, 2021- Thanksgiving

This is the perfect time to promote your holiday early bird sales.

November 26, 2021- Black Friday

Black Friday is the focus point for many businesses, and for customers, it's the day when they expect the biggest and greatest deals.

November 27, 2021- Small Business Saturday

This is a newer holiday devoted to promoting small businesses in your community. It provides the potential to obtain new clients and, perhaps, future loyal supporters. It can also increase sales through promotions.

November 28, 2021- Hanukkah

Christmas isn't the only holiday! Hanukkah falls just after Thanksgiving this year, making it a great holiday to use to extend your holiday marketing strategy to December.

November 29, 2021- Cyber Monday

This is a holiday that ecommerce enterprises should not overlook. It’s the only holiday that beats black friday in record sales.

November 30, 2021- Giving Tuesday

This is a day for giving back, whether it's through a charitable donation or offering your time. While a Giving Tuesday campaign might help non-profits raise funds, it can also help companies. You may, for example, assist consumers in doing good by contributing a part of your profits to a nonprofit organization.

December 24, 2021 to Dec 25, 2021- Christmas

Now's the time to take advantage of the Christmas shopping season by encouraging customers to buy gifts from your store.

December 31, 2021 to Jan 1, 2022- New Year

This is your chance to welcome the new year, embrace new beginnings, and join in the fun. Enjoy the year's end with your audience!

How to create your holiday marketing strategy

Now you're ready to start planning, designing, and executing your holiday marketing campaign!

Any holiday marketing campaign must involve a few stages. The efforts may not pay off in the end if these steps are not mastered:

Plan ahead

A Christmas marketing strategy should be planned way before the holiday season. Remember, holiday marketing success is the result of a well-thought-out and intentional strategy, so each brand should determine which marketing channels will be most effective, who to target them to, and how to create a message that speaks to their audience.

Choose the most effective marketing channels

The holidays are social and emotional in character, making it very humane. This means the marketing platforms you use for holiday campaigns should be human as well.

A comprehensive, cross-channel approach to Holiday marketing is usually the most effective.

Sending targeted messages to people who have already expressed interest in your company is very beneficial with holiday email marketing. Meanwhile, SMS marketing helps you capture clients' attention immediately. On the other hand, social media platforms provide a means of reaching a larger audience.

And, if your budget allows, consider paid ads on platforms like Facebook to boost your exposure.

Gather user data

It's a good idea to collect as much valuable information as possible in order to provide clients with targeted and customised offers. Gather the data ahead of time then use it to create the right message for your holiday campaign. One way to do that is to customize subscription forms to collect data for future holiday marketing campaigns.

Create a schedule

It's important to plan out what you want to do and when you want to do it before you start your campaign.

Here are some important steps to consider for your Holiday campaign:

• Increase awareness: While you don't want to start your seasonal promotions before your customers have even started thinking about their Christmas buying, you should start building anticipation ahead of time. Creating a teaser campaign will help your brand and products get traction.
• Promote your deals and offers: Once the Holiday season has arrived, it's time to start promoting your deals with targeted ads on your preferred platforms.
• Stay top of mind with customer follow-ups: Don't be tempted to loosen up once your sales are over! Holiday promotions are fantastic for gaining new customers, but retention is important to reap the benefits. This means you'll need to show some love to your new customers and urge them to buy from you again. For example, you might accomplish this by giving them a discount on their next purchase.

Create your campaign’s messaging & content

Now comes the exciting part: creating your campaign's messaging and content. Build your content around the schedule you've planned and the channels you've chosen, then tailor your messages to different customer segments and campaign stages.

Create a dedicated landing page for all information relating to your seasonal offers aside from promotional content like emails, ads, and social media posts.

And once you've finalized your content, you'll be ready for the holiday shopping season.

Just Digital’s list of holiday marketing strategies that’s naughty and nice

Let’s start with the good!

The following Holiday marketing strategies can help you in fine-tuning your efforts to increase sales during the most profitable season of the year:

Nice list

Keep it simple

It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of Holiday preparations. However, starting small with your holiday campaigns is preferable in the long run, especially if this is your first holiday season as a business.

During the holidays, even larger shops that have been in business for decades typically return to the basics. It all hinges on your team's bandwidth and the level of help your operations receive over the holidays.

The holidays are not the time to try out new customer strategies or techniques, even if you've done extensive testing and discovery all year to nail down the right messaging.

There is too much at stake. You can always try A/B testing if you want to be extra creative and explore a new approach.

When clients are looking for the ideal present from Santa or a gift card for their loved ones, the reputation you've earned with them over the years will be one of the deciding considerations. Make sure you're ready to provide them with a customer experience that's similar to what they've had in the past.

Be ready to respond and adapt in whatever situation

Regardless of the scale of your website, you'll need a quick-response staff to address any problems that arise on your site, in your holiday ads or elsewhere.

It encompasses more than just digital and content preparations. To accommodate the increased visitors and orders, make improvements to your customer service, shipping, fulfillment, and operations teams.

When things don't go as planned, you'll also need to react quickly.

Make your campaign content driven

Online shopping has only made customers more aware of Holiday marketing tactics. They see the same things year after year, so typical sales and marketing approaches may cause their eyes to glaze over.

The same ecommerce trends that arose last year will apply to Holiday marketing strategies as well.

The "content-first" approach that creative and trendy brands are adopting now will be a popular trend throughout the holidays. We'll see businesses provide more personalized shopping experiences, like discount coupons and Christmas gift suggestions, using content marketing as a technique of reaching customers.

Expect to face stiffer competition

Email marketing is the most important marketing channel you have during the holiday season. Make sure your email marketing helps you stand out from the crowd by clearly communicating the advantages of doing business with you over your competitors.

Avoid creating a false sense of urgency

If panic buying has taught us anything, it's that customers might feel compelled to buy when they believe something they need or desire will be sold out. The Holiday season is notorious for big price cuts that are only available once a year, and savvy consumers know how to pick the best deals.

Make sure you're explicitly motivating customers to visit your online store and make a purchase during your holiday marketing campaign. Don’t just do random giveaways or discounts, be clever with it. Plan things out because you wouldn't want your brand to lose its value to the point where people believe it is cheap. This might cause them to lose interest in buying from you ever again.

It's not only about making money over the holidays; it's also about building relationships with consumers who will return to purchase during the off-season. Always keep client retention in mind when making holiday marketing decisions.

Care for your existing clients

The visitors to your website during the holidays are likely to be a good mix of new and returning clients. The process to buy for a returning customer differs significantly from that of a new customer, so keep both in mind when making your holiday marketing plans.

Work with a non profit

After a tough year in quarantine, people are looking forward to the cheer of the holiday season.

For many, this involves doing good deeds and giving back. Consider collaborating with a non-profit to get into the Holiday spirit while still communicating your brand's core values with your clients.

If you're not sure where to begin, consider collaborating with a local organization or asking your consumers about their favorite charities.

Not so nice list

While not every campaign is made equal, there are several practices you should avoid at all costs. Let's have a look at some of the most common mistakes to avoid:

Not knowing your target audience

The most important piece of advice for every business is to know who your customers are. This advice may sound like it's been given before, but it's more important than ever for your Holiday marketing success.

A digital marketing strategy tailored to your buyer personas can help your company stand out from the competition and keep your consumers' attention.

Limiting your marketing tactics

Using only one marketing strategy limits your possible customer base and lacks the innovation and authenticity that consumers want.

While you might spend most of your time focused on one or two marketing tactics, such as influencer marketing or display advertisements, the Holiday season is a great opportunity to branch out.

Preparing last minute

Whether you're a large company or a small business, late planning is one of the most typical holiday mistakes made by businesses.

You'll need to start implementing your marketing efforts in a similar way for those early holiday shoppers. You don't have to wait until after Halloween to start planning your next campaign.

Bombarding your subscribers with promotional emails

Count how many promotional emails you receive in a day in your inbox. It's most likely more than you want.

Now, consider which emails drew your attention. What was it about them that made them stand out?

It's easy to go overboard with holiday email marketing, but the emails that provide value and are creative are the ones that catch users' attention.

A simple yet memorable subject line can pique curiosity, but writing a value-add email will boost your click-through rate.

Keep track of how many emails you have in your inbox and what each one is for. Your staff will have less work to do as a result, and overall client happiness will improve.

Holiday marketing best practices

• Set your goals: Think about your Holiday marketing goals and the resources you have available to achieve them. Santa can't make miracles happen, so attempt to set realistic goals and decide what sorts of discounts you want to offer.
• Leverage on holiday emotions: Create one-of-a-kind emails for your customers and base it on actual data that describes their likes, wants, etc. Start your holiday campaigns with sincerity, this way you not only provide individuals more generous holiday offers, but you also spread cheer and glee.
• Don't be overly persistent: The best way to irritate consumers is to barrage them with proposals when they aren't ready.
• Aim for all-year holiday promotions: Don't let Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas put an end to your holiday marketing efforts. Now is the time to start planning your niche holidays. Think siblings day, world animal day, or even family day.
• Make your email and SMS campaigns personal: Email and SMS campaigns may be personalized. Use data from the previous year or two to figure out what your consumers are looking for in Holiday emails. Make an effort to satisfy their needs by tailoring your suggestions to their particular needs.

4 of the best holiday marketing campaigns

As you create your heartwarming completely endearing holiday marketing campaign, try to take a look at these examples from the best-performing campaigns across the years.

Coca-Cola Canada

https://youtu.be/yg4Mq5EAEzw

This recent Coca-Cola ad tells the story of a father who goes to great lengths to send his daughter's letter to Santa Claus.

While pondering what to do with the letter, the father enjoys a Coke, leaving us with the impression he won’t make it in time.

As he hunts for Santa, we witness him sail over the sea, trudge through the woods, ride across the desert, and climb a snowy mountain. Finally, he arrives, but Santa is closed for the holidays. Just when we think the situation is hopeless, Santa arrives on a Coca-Cola-branded truck and whisks the father away.

The little girl's wish? For him to be able to spend Christmas with his family. (Cue the tears!)

As always, Coca-Cola's campaign appeals to emotions showing us the great lengths a dad will go through for his daughter, and that the finest gift you can give to your loved ones is your presence and time.

Peach & Lily

You don’t have to be a huge brand like Coca-Cola or Amazon to create holiday campaigns. Just take a look at Peach & Lily’s Halloween email. It’s simple, it’s clever, and it works!

The skincare brand is offering Halloween deals for those who would rather stay in and watch horror movies all while pampering their skin. It’s also an amazing way to treat your skin after all the Halloween makeup!

Apple

https://youtu.be/Rx0om7rWhl0

This ad starts in a very relatable, almost nostalgic, way. You're first introduced to a family going to see relatives around the holidays (you know how hectic that can be).

The beauty of the ad is that the iPad appears to be the only thing keeping the peace during their trip.

But then the ad takes a bittersweet turn as we see their grandfather struggling with the loss of his wife. An unexpected (but also very expected) thing happens. The granddaughters use the ipad to make a gift for the entire family.

What makes this ad stand out from Apple's usual ads is the emotional appeal. Apple's ads are typically feature-heavy, emphasizing utility above everything else. But this time they leverage emotions and use the product as a tool to tell the story.

Disney

https://youtu.be/tl57Gy5X_Kg

In this Disney Holiday commercial, culture, history, and festive spirit come together. The media powerhouse uses its long-standing name to transport us to 1940, when a small girl receives her first Mickey Mouse plush toy.

As the film progresses, we witness the tiny girl mature into a grandmother. She passes the plush toy on to her granddaughter, who, as she grows older, does not like it as much.

The granddaughter recognizes how much the toy means to her grandmother and works to restore it to its former beauty. When Grandma opens her Christmas gift and sees her old toy mended and restored, we're immediately taken back to her childhood with parols lighting up the night sky.

We were expecting something heartfelt from Disney, and it did not disappoint. We really admire how Filipino culture has been shown to millions of people around the world.

Be merry and bright!

With an increase in people buying online and a steady stream of competitors, it's more difficult for companies to flourish over the holidays. However, there are actions you can do ahead of time to place your brand above the competition and attract loyal customers.

A key takeaway from this guide is that planning is essential to the success of your holiday marketing. You need to dedicate your time, effort, and resources to be able to fully reap the benefits of the Holiday shopping season.

Start preparing today, optimize your content, keep your customers in mind, and don't forget to build lifetime value with your brand.

We wish you a warm and cozy holiday season, from our family to yours.

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by Just Digital Team

Brand Ambassador Tips: 8 Tips To Improve Your Brand Ambassador Marketing Strategy

More companies are turning to brand ambassador marketing as a way to grow their businesses and engage with their audiences. You're probably reading this because you’re interested in starting your own brand ambassador marketing program. But what do you do when you’re starting out and feeling stuck? Keep reading this article for brand ambassador tips that help make the process easier!

In our previous article, we taught you how to create your own ambassador marketing program. This time we’re focusing on brand ambassador tips that you can use to improve your campaign.

Brand ambassador marketing is the key to reaching out to your target audience in the most sincere, authentic, and credible way possible.

Traditional advertising tactics have almost completely lost their effectiveness. We are constantly overwhelmed with commercial messages online, leaving consumers frustrated and unable to make a decision. This is why hundreds of thousands of consumers look to influencers and ambassadors for help when making buying decisions. Now, we rely on people like us for reliable and honest recommendations.

What is a brand ambassador?

A brand ambassador is anyone who represents and promotes your brand, product, event, or service to their network.

Anyone can be a brand ambassador, including celebrities or influencers. These brand ambassadors usually have a transactional partnership with brands, which means they are compensated or given products or services in exchange for representing the brand.

Brand ambassadors can also be people who adore the brands they represent. This includes devoted customers, passionate fans, or employees. These types of brand ambassadors are most likely unpaid but are willing to spread the word about your businesses to their network because they already love your brand.

Brand ambassadors use a word-of-mouth approach to refer people to the businesses they represent. They recommend and talk about the brand with their network in everyday conversations or on social media. This opens up possibilities for increasing brand recognition and sales.

Using brand ambassadors in your marketing strategy establishes credible, authentic, and highly successful marketing channels. Ambassadors promote your brand to a connected, engaged, and trusting audience. Having a handful of ambassadors broadens your company's reach.

What is the difference between brand ambassadors and influencers?

Influencers and brand ambassadors have some similarities, but there are some nuances to take note of.

Influencers

Posting on social media or other platforms to promote a brand is usually part of an influencer's responsibilities.

You'll often see influencers promote and use products in their content. They'll explain the benefits of the products and how the products function for a certain need or goal. It's important to note that these posts aren't entirely focused on a certain brand. Influencers may mention a brand in passing while they generate their regular content, but the brand won't be the main focus.

In most cases, influencers include a few products or services from different brands in their content. Then they connect with their audience as directly as possible with the goal of persuading their audience to buy a product or service from a company.

Brand ambassadors

Brand ambassadors perform many of the same tasks as influencers. They interact and engage with their followers on social media and other platforms to promote a product that is tailored to their followers' needs.

The biggest difference between the two is that brand ambassadors work directly and closely with a brand. They usually focus solely on one brand's products.

Brand ambassadors tend to have more influence over a company's marketing strategy because they are comparable to direct employees.

They might concentrate on a variety of long-term marketing strategies and continually come up with fresh ways to improve or showcase a product. This strategy contributes to the development of a more long-term campaign.

This isn’t to say that brand ambassadors can’t support a different brand. Brand ambassadors have the option to work for other brands once their contract expires or if they find another company they want to work with. All of this depends on the quality of a brand ambassador program and the rewards it offers to its employees.

Successful brand ambassador programs examples

 

We've compiled a list of the best brand ambassador marketing examples from a variety of industries. Here are 5 of the best brand ambassador marketing programs:

Lululemon

Lululemon may have pioneered the concept of brand ambassador marketing as we know it today. Their first store concept included collaborations with local health and wellness professionals in Canada. The same approach was eventually used across their whole worldwide retail network, encouraging customers to spend more time in shops and buy more merchandise.

This brand is certainly the best when it comes to building an online community. The sportswear brand recruits global leaders to try out new products, post them on social media, and solicit feedback from people in the locations they represent. This strategy allows Lululemon to keep watch of these communities, which then provides important input that helps the company develop and expand.

Brand ambassadors are now prominently displayed on the Lululemon website. They even have yearly events that honor ambassadors and their contributions to the brand. You can tell the brand cares for its brand ambassadors by publicizing their work, seminars, and charity contributions.

Lululemon’s use of brand ambassador marketing is a great strategy. They target health-conscious Instagram users, along with millions of other consumers across the world. The brand, which has no qualms with recruiting micro influencers – individuals with less than 50,000 followers – retains the local market approach that helped it become a multibillion-dollar corporation.

What makes their use of a brand ambassador successful?

Lululemon brand ambassadors produce relevant and relatable content. Their content revolves around realistic and human lifestyles, but with a healthy and trustworthy message. Through hashtags like #TheSweatLife, their audience can easily track how Lululemon apparel is used in everyday life.

When it comes to choosing trustworthy companies, Gen-Z customers look for genuine connections, community, and intimacy. While the Lulu team includes some of the most well-known Instagram influencers and professional athletes, its network also includes community leaders. These people form genuine bonds with young professionals, parents, ambitious athletes, and everyone in between.

Adobe Brand Ambassador Example

While most people associate Photoshop with celebrity face tuning, Adobe actually focuses on offering incredible software for designers, illustrators, and producers. These softwares are nowhere cheap, but they've established the standard for creative growth throughout the world in many ways.

As it continues to produce products for creators, Adobe has engaged in brand ambassador marketing with creative partners all around the world. Adobe ambassadors showcase how Adobe's softwares and mobile applications add new depths to their work.

This brand has always honored its customers. Adobe releases software updates for its various platforms on a regular basis, and each one comes with a fresh welcome splash screen. Adobe has worked with genuine commercial artists and illustrators to develop those softwares from its start in the 1990s and they give credit to each person by name. Their customer-first philosophy has paid off, and they've survived a lot of competitors who are no longer in business.

Adobe ambassadors frequently teach classes, extending influence even further. From students to budding artists to major companies, Adobe provides everything users need to create and deliver outstanding digital experiences. The Adobe Creative Insider Program was intended to attract new consumers while keeping old ones happy. Ambassadors in the program teach both beginners and expert users in exchange for professional development resources to help them incorporate Adobe software into their own businesses.

What makes their use of a brand ambassador successful?

The Creative Insider ambassadors act as the middlemen between Adobe and its customers. Because Adobe is so huge, having people who can satisfy specific customer requests and requirements is critical to maintaining the community. They may also make sure that consumer input is received and acted upon by the business.

Adobe has a large presence on college campuses as well. They employ students from all across the country to help promote Adobe to the next generation of creatives. These student ambassadors organize training seminars, interact with their followers on social media, and set up free trials for a variety of on-campus groups. Adobe has effectively increased brand loyalty among Gen-Z users as a result of this initiative. They've shown how important such initiatives are in keeping a firm relevant across generations.

How Away Luggage Uses Pet Influencers

Away Luggage challenges and disrupts the traditional way of selling luggage. This luggage brand has conquered the market thanks to its sleek, minimalist design, interesting color choices, and integrated technology. It's a formula for Millennial travel perfection! Especially when you combine it with a price point that's lower than conventional luxury luggage brands.

Away started employing Instagram influencers early on. But they still kept going and increased the program in 2018 to keep up with the rising demand for lifestyle travel items. The brand features young, beautiful Millennials in metropolitan settings. Displaying elegance and adaptability, all while romanticizing the experience. Their use of brand ambassadors generates FOMO (fear of missing out), making us all want to plan our getaway with their stunning luggage.

How Beats By Dre Uses Brand Ambassadors

The world's most well-known headphones brand didn't start off that way. Beats by Dre employed high-profile counterculture celebrities and social media influencers from the very beginning. Beats was able to convince Millennial consumers to pay $400 for a set of headphones by presenting itself as a fresh competitor to conventional and less interesting brands. The avalanche of social media mentions, celebrity sightings, and music video appearances of the famous over ear headphones outstripped even early unfavorable reviews from audiophile blogs.

As if the endorsements weren't enough, Beats By Dre also developed a brand ambassador program that encouraged innovation. They collaborated with brand ambassadors on special editions and color combinations. These limited-edition headphones became collectibles, boosting demand for the headphones even more. The special editions encouraged brand ambassadors to use their extensive networks to promote Beats by Dre. This fosters a sense of shared enthusiasm among their most influential spokespeople.

Despite the fact that this strategy is over a decade old, current businesses can still benefit from an increasingly flat supply chain that allows for quick prototyping and innovation to achieve the same thing faster and for less money.

Casper

Who would've thought a mattress company would make use of brand ambassadors, right? But lo and behold Casper! Casper relies on "sleep ambassadors" to spread the word as it sets out to disrupt an established industry. When the Casper team realized that conventional marketing and the mattress shop distributor model were flawed and outdated, they enlisted the help of young, hip brand ambassadors to create true, transparent content for YouTube and Instagram. These early reviewers piqued people's interest in the brand. Effective digital marketing soon followed to convert viewers into consumers.

Casper expanded to exceed several competitors in two years, all while relying on mail-order products and tailored advertising to stay in the game. New brand ambassadors were being added along with new collaborations to reach out to a higher-income demographic. All international business and first-class American Airlines that lie flat seats received a custom branded Casper mattress. Along with the mattress, they received direct response vouchers in the amenity box. The bedding was then subsequently reviewed by travel influencers, placing Casper on a whole new level from its competitors.

Brand ambassador tips and best practices

Starting a brand ambassador program is a huge step toward increasing brand recognition. But creating campaigns that move the needle on sales requires careful planning. Here are the four best practices for brand ambassador marketing to ensure you get the best results. Do this whether you're beginning from scratch or wanting to improve an existing program.

Create a strong social media strategy

Your brand will benefit greatly from a strong social media strategy. Brand awareness is important when it comes to expanding your audience, so don't miss out on the opportunity to use social media to interact with both old and new consumers.

In the long run, social media is a wonderful way to raise brand recognition and revenue. Having brand ambassadors post about your product is one of the first steps to boosting your brand's online exposure. Additionally, you can also incorporate social media influencers into your social media strategy. Your field marketing program will be considerably stronger if you add a handful of social media influencers with an existing social media presence.

You can also ask your employees to act as your brand ambassadors. Employees are the most knowledgeable about your product which is why they make excellent brand ambassadors. Start by encouraging your colleagues to post about your product once a week, and then increase the frequency during promotions or new launches. This will deepen the bond between your workers and your product while also presenting it to a wider audience. Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter are wonderful for keeping people connected. But they are even better for bringing prospective consumers to your company. Encouraging your employees to talk about your products on social media platforms gives you a trusted voice in many social circles.

Track your progress

Tracking progress, data, and analytics is essential for successful brand ambassador marketing. Keep track of how field activities affect your business. Take advantage of this data and continually improve your strategy! Adopting a data-driven strategy encourages brand ambassadors to reach their goals, as well as the company's goals. They'll be able to see how their actions influence your bottom line, which encourages your brand ambassadors to do their best. Using real-time data feedback improves your company's overall productivity.

By reviewing the data, your team can reflect upon what's working and what's not working. Try softwares and applications built particularly for field teams to handle data, communication, and analytics.

We love working with companies that are focused on making their dollars make sense - want to talk to us about your marketing needs? Feel free to reach out!

Learn from your brand ambassadors

You can learn a lot from your brand ambassadors, especially if they’re part of a niche that’s within your ideal market. There’s a huge opportunity for you to learn what your target audience likes through your brand ambassadors. Ask them what posts their followers like the most, the comments they get on their posts, and even the messages their followers send. It's not easy to introduce your brand to a community. Choosing candidates who are actively involved in their communities is the best solution to this challenge.

Choosing someone who is well-versed in their community's culture will undoubtedly open up new doors. Not only because they know more people, but also because they have a better sense of how to market your company to their particular demographic.

Encourage honesty and creativity

Your brand ambassador program will be built around the goals and expectations you set for your brand ambassadors. If you want your program to stand out from your competition, then  encourage your ambassadors to come up with their own marketing ideas. This can be expressed in a variety of ways, but note that creating a sense of ownership among your brand ambassadors is critical to the program's success.

Brand Ambassador Tips

Brand Ambassador Tips: Select the right people

Our first brand ambassador tip is all about choosing the right people to represent your brand.

While your ambassadors do not require a marketing degree, it's critical that you offer them a thorough grasp of your brand's ethos, beliefs, and the campaign's targeted results. Discuss this early on in your interactions and have it documented to protect both sides.

It's ideal to choose people to represent your brand that are well-versed in the products and services you deal with. Why? Because your ambassadors can't truly support something they don't believe in. Find people who are enthusiastic about your company.

Although it is easy to identify your top customers, not all will be appropriate for the job. Look for individuals that share your organization's vision and purpose. Once you've narrowed down your list of possible brand ambassadors, choose the people that best fit your program. Do this by creating a list of must-have qualities that you feel are essential for the role.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Understand your ambassadors’ goals and align them with yours

Before you establish a brand ambassador program for your brand, consider your target audience. What vibe do you want to communicate to your consumers?

Your company's values and beliefs will be a foundational aspect of your brand ambassador program, so it's a good idea to clarify these values with potential brand ambassadors early on in the relationship. The standards and identity of your organization will help you determine who is most suited to represent you.

Aside from your own company values, it's good to know the values of your prospective brand ambassadors as well. Ambassadors mirror their own brand through their channels and they tend to collaborate with brands with similar values. Learn all there is to know about a potential brand ambassador before asking them to represent your brand. Take a look at the usual content they post, and how your campaign will affect their online engagements.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Give value to your ambassadors and empower them

Our third brand ambassador tip requires a little bit of effort on your end. Establish a relationship with the ambassadors to learn about their expectations. As your ambassadors, each individual will have a distinct set of objectives in mind. Some may only be there for the goodies, while others will be there to improve their resumes, develop new skills, or even join your company. Understanding these motives can help predict the success of your brand ambassador program.

Your brand ambassadors should feel like partners of your business. You should provide your brand ambassadors with any resources needed to properly advertise your products and services. Additionally, you must have an organized and reliable system for communication between your team and your brand  ambassadors. Your brand ambassadors should have a dedicated team member to reach out to with questions at any time. You can also provide a platform for brand ambassadors to communicate with each other.

While not every campaign you design as a company will need ambassador involvement, it's critical to keep any ambassadors you work with informed of any changes. If you build a long-term relationship with them and keep them informed about significant news or changes, they'll always be prepared to answer any external queries and can represent your brand with authority and confidence in their other job. Building long-term connections with ambassadors enhances their loyalty to the company and lowers the chances of them working with competition.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Make it exclusive

Selecting the right ambassadors is important, but you also want to make sure the program maintains its high-quality appeal. It's OK to tell potential applicants about the program, but make sure the selection process is more qualifications-based. Allowing anybody to be your ambassador reduces the importance of the program. It also raises the risk of having irresponsible and uncommitted ambassadors. As many buyers have learned, quantity does not imply quality.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Create a social media policy

As great as brand ambassador marketing is, there are some things to consider when asking people outside of your company to advertise your products or services.

Your ambassadors represent your brand. This means their actions have a direct influence on your company's image. As a result, it's important to make sure that anything they publish online is consistent with your company image. A social media policy is the best way to establish rules to help ambassadors understand the tone and message they should use, especially while promoting your business on social media.

That being said, you should find someone to oversee the your brand ambassador program. They can help you monitor your ambassadors' content and duties.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Reward your ambassadors

There are some ambassadors who work for free, but rewarding and acknowledging their contributions goes a long way. Converting followers into customers takes skill and effort, so offering incentive to your brand ambassadors is a must. If you decide to compensate them, clearly communicate how they can earn the money. Compensate their efforts with a fixed amount or with other things such as discounts, free items, or gifts.

If you have ambassadors who are employees, motivate and encourage them with a few incentives. Let them know that the program is an opportunity to broaden their professional abilities and gain valuable skills, and reward good performance with promotions.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Cultivate and foster a strong community

This next brand ambassador tip is all about fostering a community. Doing this will cultivate a supportive environment where people can exchange thoughts and ideas. Form a group of ambassadors who can collaborate to help one another develop. The community serves as a resource for ambassadors in need of content inspiration. This will also give them a sense of belonging to something significant.

Other companies' or notable influencers' social media sites can also be good sources of followers for you and your community. Take a look at other sites to see where you can make a difference as a brand or company. React openly if someone mentions you or your brand. Show your presence and your readiness to communicate. This will improve your reputation and build community cohesiveness.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Think globally, but act locally

It's great to target a worldwide market by operating on a local scale as larger communities will see your ambassadors' impact in local communities.

This is why it's important to emphasize your ambassadors doing good in their communities. Show them working to make a positive influence on a regular basis. Let your ambassadors upload videos of themselves using your product. Allow them to demonstrate how your products improved their lives. These videos will give your brand a favorable worldwide image.

Brand Ambassador Tips: Final thoughts

There are several reasons why you should integrate ambassador marketing in your marketing strategy. Brand ambassadors are honest in their support of your products and services because they believe in your brand.

They'll tell their friends, relatives, and colleagues about your business. They'll also help you build trusting relationships with your target market.

The keys to a successful brand ambassadorship include choosing the right program for your organization, putting together an effective plan, and empowering the brand ambassadors you choose to represent you.

Don't be afraid to try! You'll reap the benefits of ambassador marketing if you're able to follow these brand ambassador tips and best practices.

Looking for more posts like this? Check out our blog here!

If you're interested in growing your business with digital marketing, this is a great place to start!

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by Just Digital Team

Understanding The Psychology Behind Social Proof Marketing: Drive Conversions, Increase Sales, & Grow Your Business

These days, you'll need more than a few snippets of catchy marketing content to get customers to buy into your brand. What you need is social proof marketing. It is one of the most successful ways to grow new business, build loyalty and trust.

Have you ever bought a product based on a suggestion from a friend or family member? If you have, you were likely swayed by social proof. And you've shown that social proof is a powerful marketing tool for businesses big and small.

Here's another example. Have you ever walked by a restaurant with a long line outside and decided to follow it because you assumed the food would be good? It must be good if everyone else is buying it, right?

The product was suggested to you by an actual human, which is why it's so convincing. This is an example of social proof in action. We shape our opinions on something based on other people's behaviour.

Smart brands and marketers recognize that social proof marketing has enormous growth potential. This is why they use a variety of strategies to manipulate buying behaviour with constructive social proof. As a result, it produces more profit.

92% of consumers are more likely to trust non-paid recommendations than any other type of advertising.

Social proof is a psychological process in which an individual imitates another's behaviors to reflect what they believe is appropriate behaviour in a given situation. It's a basic course in human behavior that feeling fuels FOMO (fear of missing out). Social proof is a key persuasion principle that's extensively used in marketing, especially word-of-mouth marketing.

Social proof marketing has now become a valuable tactic for businesses. Positive or negative social proof can make or break a brand. Especially with how pervasive social media and the hive mind have become.

What is social proof marketing?

The principle of social proof states that individuals can imitate the behavior of the masses. The theory is that if the majority of people are doing the same thing, it must be the right thing to do.

In fact, this real scientific study shows the effect of group influence on one's decision-making process. The arguments proposed in this study all fall short in the face of this one idea: if others are doing it, I should too.

This effect is known as social proof by psychologists, and it is particularly prominent in the world of online shopping.

Marketers use social proof as a conversion rate optimization strategy by relieving consumers' worries. The importance of social proof cannot be overstated. According to studies, 92% of online shoppers read product reviews before making an order.

Not to mention the fact that product reviews are 12-times more trusted than product descriptions, ads, and sales copy.

In other words, customers want proof from their colleagues and impartial third parties, not from the companies supplying the goods. Real-life social proof cases that you come across on a regular basis are the perfect way to consider social proof marketing.

Reviews & Testimonials

Websites typically include reviews or testimonials. People now tend to rely on reviews or testimonials as a deciding factor for their purchase.

Influencer marketing

Brands work with influencers or micro influencers to promote their products or services. Notice how often influencers state paid promotion deals on their pages.

Restaurants

People waiting for a table in restaurants are often forced to wait outside due to a lack of room in reception areas. This indicates to passers-by that the restaurant is busy. As a result, people who pass by are more likely to return to the restaurant.

Shops

Stores will display photos of celebrities who have shopped in their establishments to show shoppers that notable people approve of their goods and services.

Exclusive clubs

People must first join a waiting list to get into exclusive clubs. Although waitlists are often necessary to avoid overcrowding, the fact is that they are often used to make clubs seem more exclusive.

As you can see, social proof marketing can be a very useful tool for businesses. By displaying the success of your brand, products, and services, you will increase people's confidence in your brand. Social proof marketing can already be found everywhere. It's only right that you start doing it on your own business.

Why is social proof marketing important? What are the benefits of social proof marketing?

Social proof can be a powerful marketing tool for plenty of reasons.

The bandwagon effect

It's a social psychology concept that states that people are more motivated to do anything if others are doing it. It is the most fundamental driving force behind social proof. If 300,000 people liked the podcast, the bandwagon effect dictates that you will likely enjoy it as well.

Builds trust

Since sending a credit card number to an unfamiliar company over the internet is a large obstacle for consumers to conquer, trust becomes one of the most important factors in converting customers online. Using testimonials and consumer feedback to show prospective clients that a company has a lot of happy customers helps to gain confidence that a company is genuine and trustworthy.

Establishes authority

Finally, social proof can be used to establish authority in online marketing. A client, for example, might find a testimonial from a credible source, like an expert, more persuasive than a hundred average customer feedback. Another way to demonstrate both social proof and authority is to display brand logos from well-known clients. The logic follows that if a service is used by a large number of the world's biggest corporations, it must be nice.

Social proof marketing operates by appealing to our natural desire to imitate others' behaviour, thus increasing trust and credibility and lowering the barriers to online shopping.

Principles of social proof marketing

As previously said, social proof marketing relies on someone to figure out how to behave in an unfamiliar situation. If you're in a new city and looking for a place to eat, you're more likely to stroll into a bustling restaurant full of happy customers than a lonely establishment with no indication that it serves good food. With this in mind, it's worth noting that there are four social proof principles that can influence our behaviour.

• Uncertainty: When we are unsure about a situation, we look to how other people are responding.
• Expertise: In uncertain situations, students are more likely to turn to their teachers for guidance. The expertise principle in social proof states that those with more experience in a certain situation will lead the rest of the group's reaction.
• Similarity: When confronted with a new situation in a big community, you are most likely to mimic the reactions of others that are similar to you.
• Number: The number principle is best summarized by the herd mentality. When a group of individuals is confronted with an ambiguous situation, the majority's decisions will be seen as right and true.

Social proof marketing statistics

1. 87% of people do online research before making a purchase.
2. The average customer reads ten online reviews before making a buying decision.
3. 88% of consumers value customer feedback as much as personal recommendations.
4. 82% of Americans claim they get advice from friends and relatives before making a purchase.
5. 70% of people would believe a suggestion from someone they have never met.
6. 92% of individuals trust peer recommendations.
7. Buyers read an average of 40 online reviews before believing a company's star rating is accurate.
8. 63% of consumers are most likely to buy from a site that has product ratings and reviews.
9. 85% of consumers believe that web reviews older than three months are irrelevant.
10. Non-paid recommendations are trusted by 92% of customers.

Types of social proof marketing

The most important aspect of successful social proof marketing is that it is genuine. There are six different types of social proof. Begin by utilizing the resources you currently have, and then work to expand and acquire more.

• Experts: Social proof from reputable and respected industry experts.
• Certifications: A reputable, third-party body that certifies that you are a knowledgeable, high-quality, or a reliable source.
• Customers: Testimonials from your current customers or users.
• Celebrities and other influencers: Celebrities and other influencers may provide social proof (e.g. celebrities who have bought your product, tried and loved your services, or visited your shop/store/establishment).
• Friends: Friends of your users/website visitors.
• Crowds: Large numbers of people can act as social proof.

How to use social proof marketing to boost conversions

There are a variety of ways to incorporate social proof marketing into your strategies. First of all, it's important to be humble. When you post social proof, make sure it's viewed as a resource intended for your audience, rather than a way to boost the brand's image (or ego).

The advantages of social proof go far beyond brand recognition and loyalty. It will also help you rank higher in search engines, since Google prefers to see evidence of social proof on a brand's website.

Social proof content is also a useful weapon for social media campaigns because this form of marketing spreads quickly across many networks.

Remember to show examples of social proof in the same way as you would a knowledge base. Share your previous consumers' stories and experiences with your prospects to motivate them and help them make an educated decision about your business.

Above all, for social proof to be effective, it must feel genuine. To do so, you must build a relationship with your audience based on continuity and confidence.

Once that has been accomplished, you can try implementing these social proof marketing tactics to boost conversions and make more sales.

Showcase statistics

Adding real-time statistics to your website to show how many users are actually using your services, or how many consumers are currently shopping, is a perfect source of social proof. Not to mention, it also brings FOMO into the equation!

You can display whatever information you choose, such as orders, registrations, or signups. You can also send out alerts if a product in your store becomes successful.

Proof does this by including real time stats on their website. They added it on the headline so it catches your attention, plus it’s the first thing you see.

Case studies

You can also highlight happy consumers by providing a case study on their experience with your business. Identify one or more customers who you've successfully worked with and ask if they'd be willing to participate.

Typically, case studies provide an in-depth analysis of how you and the client collaborated successfully. That said, maintaining positive engagement with your clients is critical.

You can present your case studies in a variety of ways. For example, you can provide free PDFs or host them on your blog, as Ogilvy has done.

Customer case studies are featured prominently on Ogilvy's website. A page like this in your main site navigation is a perfect way to highlight social proof.

Reviews & testimonials

Customer testimonials are perhaps the most widely used method of social proof. According to Nielsen research, 92% of people trust a peer endorsement and 70% trust a recommendation from someone they don't know.

As a result, nearly every brand's website features consumer testimonials.

Customer testimonials and reviews can be presented in a variety of ways, as long as they emphasize the value of the brand in the words of happy consumers. According to one report, testimonials will boost sales page conversions by up to 34%. The trick is to use the right testimonial format for your website.

In addition to posting online testimonials and reviews on your website, have you thought about sharing social proof on social media?

Sharing content like this attracts new buyers. Once you gather reviews, you'll have plenty of material to work with.

Check out our own client, Wake Up And Read The Labels. We incorporated videos from her clients sharing their own positive stories and experiences with her brand. These videos were also used for her social media marketing strategy on Instagram.

Celebrity or influencer endorsements

Celebrities and well-known business leaders are excellent when it comes to gaining credibility and demonstrating your brand's value.

Depending on the brand, celebrity endorsements can be compensated or natural.

The former refers to contractual agreements in which you pay to have your brand represented. Big companies like McDonald's and Samsung operate in this manner. They hired the biggest boy band of the era, BTS, to be their brand ambassadors.

Meanwhile, a natural celebrity endorsement is when an individual openly endorses the brand/product on their own accord.

In the example above, Justin Bieber is seen using Nike sneakers even though it isn’t an official or paid endorsement.

Influencer marketing is similar to celebrity endorsements. This strategy entails paying influencers to include your brand in their posts.

Charlie D'amelio, a TikTok and Instagram influencer, collaborated with Morphe in an influencer marketing campaign.

People are drawn to influencers and they want to see what goods and services these content creators wear, use, and enjoy. As a result, influencer marketing is an excellent example of social evidence that can help the company reach a larger audience.

Awards, certificates, & accolades

Has your company been awarded or named on any industry best-of lists? Show it off! It's an excellent way to let people know that the company is recognised for its excellence.

Most certifying and accrediting companies have badges or trademarks that can be openly posted on your website. Conversion rates have been seen to rise by as much as 30% in some cases.

On our very own website we’ve added awards and partnership badges because:

1. We take pride in it.
2. It established credibility and industry expertise.

Most lists and awards will provide you with a badge graphic, similar to the ones seen above, that you can use in your website footer or homepage to highlight your brand's success.

We also do the same for our clients. Pure Dermatology belongs in an industry where accreditation matters. This is why we’ve made sure to include this on their website.

User generated content

People will notice that you have satisfied consumers when you post user-generated content on your own social media accounts. Instagram is a great place to do this.

Do it like Dove and post user-generated content to your brand's profile, tagging the original poster. Develop a branded hashtag, include it in your profile, and give users the opportunity to be featured.

This technique can be used on almost any platform, but Instagram is the most common and successful.

Customer shoutouts & mentions

What better way to demonstrate social proof than to express the compliments and kind words of your customers? You can also express customer appreciate through a quick mention on social media.

In the example above, Taco Bell retweeted a photo of a customer's graduation cap, which was covered in sauce packaging. They did so in a sincere and genuine way. This is a fantastic example of how to present social proof to your customers while also expressing customer appreciation.

Invite experts

Provide social proof by inviting experts to contribute to your social media pages or blog. Futur does this all the time on IGTV and YouTube.

Your followers and page visitors will attribute the expert's authority to you since the message is being spread on your own platform. Plus your followers will look to you in the future as a source of information.

Press features or media mentions

Have you ever seen your product or brand listed/mentioned in the news or media? Magazine features, unsolicited reviews, and podcast mentions are all examples of social proof. Gain authority and credibility by displaying these media mentions onto your website.

Simply using the logos of media outlets that mentioned your business is an even easier and more subtle tactic.

Wander Beauty added Allure’s best of beauty badge to their products on the website.

Integrations

One of the simplest ways to gain social credibility is to use logos from third-party platform integrations.

If your product or service combines with third-party platforms, the logos of your collaboration partners are one of the best forms of social proof you can use. This puts your product in the company of trusted and well-known brands.

When someone visits your site for the first time, they may not know who you are, but they'll definitely know one of your third party integrations. This gives your site credibility.

Knowing that the product is compatible with other softwares used by a prospective client is not only a fantastic selling point, but it also gives your company a more solid and trustworthy appearance.

ConvertKit has an entire page dedicated to their third party integrations.

Existing customers

If you partner with well-known companies, publicize that information to pique people's curiosity in your product or service. Obviously, if major brands like your business, you must be doing something right.

Take a look at what GetResponse did for example. They added it into their website at the very top so prospective customers see it immediately.

Display user count/subscriber count/customer count

Another important metric that gives your company credibility is the number of subscribers, sales, users, or customers. Utilizing statistics or raw numbers works well as a conversion tactic.

Wordpress does this by adding it below their headline. Their study shows 41% of the web got built using WordPress. Now that’s a huge slice of the internet.

Bestsellers

Simply displaying which products are your top sellers helps to enhance conversions on those products.

A prospect who is considering buying may be hesitant, but if they discover that it is a top seller, they are more likely to make the purchase. That's why Barnes & Noble uses an eye-catching "#1 Bestseller" banner to highlight which books are the most popular.

Customer recommendations

Surveying your existing customers and then declaring the number of consumers who would buy your product again is a great approach to harness social proof.

Casper accomplishes this by asking consumers who have purchased their items to rate them and indicate whether or not they would purchase it again, and then calculating the total percentage.

Customer features

People enjoy the spotlight, so why not use your satisfied customers as social proof? You can use a customer showcase to display your customers' products, styles, or anything else they've achieved through using your product.

Function of Beauty, for example, features customer photos in their individual product pages. This is even more effective than enlisting the services of professional models.

Harmful social proof marketing- what to avoid

Leaning too heavily on social proof can potentially hinder your sales.

When it comes to using social proof, you need to know who you're attempting to reach. Humans are tribal beings. This means a connection is formed when we see others who we have the same experiences as us.

To that end, consumers must believe they are part of the same “group” as the people you mention, or the social proof will backfire.

When presenting case studies and testimonials, make sure the person giving the review is reflective of your target market. To that end, social proof marketing should never be unduly generic and vague, since this causes friction and alienates a huge number of potential customers.

Put social proof marketing into practice

Now that you know what social proof marketing it is and how to use it, why not incorporate social proof in your marketing strategy?

You already have all you need to start using social proof marketing to boost your business' sales. Try out numerous strategies and tactics in your social proof marketing strategy. We're confident you'll witness results in no time!

Looking for more content like this? Check out our blog here!

 

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by Just Digital Team